Almost with you (But not quite)
by ImpishTopHat
Summary: Soulmate marks are mysterious things, sprouting on a child's body and determining who will they be most connected in life. They are wonderful things, but they can also be troublesome things and in the end, it's really up to people wearing them will they tell the real truth or not. (First chapter of an in progress multichapter story that will be fully published on AO3 once it's don


Soulmate marks were mysterious things, almost as much as quirks. They would appear on a child's body, around the time they got their quirk, inked tattoos made with swirling colors, believed to hold a bit of your partner's soul in them, a bit of the future love you will share. There was no rhyme nor reason to them. They could be anything, from your soulmates favorite plushie as a child to a physical representation of their character. You could wake up with a beautifully detailed illustration of your partner's inner being or with a stamp mark because your partner just really liked collecting stamps. Some of them were objects, some animals, some simple words or characters but all of them moved across the child's body, keeping them company to adulthood, when they would find their soulmate. And upon first touch, the soulmate mark would glow.

Katsuki was beyond excited the day he woke up with a swirling shape on his knuckles. It looked like a big fish, made out of intricate patterns and dyed dark red. He jumped out of his bed immediately, rushing to his parents' bedroom, clambering on top their bed even as his mother mumbled "Katsuki, what the fuck, its barely seven.", and shoving his hand into their faces to show off his brand new soulmate mark.

His mother grinned brightly, sweeping him into her lap to get a closer look as his father leaned over her shoulder.

"Ah, it's a pretty one, your soulmate must be pretty special." His father complimented, trailing the complex patterns over his son's palm.

The mark nuzzled happily into the touch, swimming excited circles around Katsuki's palm and then over his knuckles and up his arm until it swam across his cheek, small blue bubbles bursting around it with every swish of its tail.

After a quick search, his mother identified the fish as a whale shark and Katsuki grinned sharp and bright because there were a few cooler fishes then sharks.

He spent days trying to figure out what his soulmate was like from the tattoo alone, but it was rather hard to know for sure. His mother had a needle on her skin, trailing behind a thread that changed colors according to his father's mood from which Katsuki knew to calm down when he saw it turn dark blue with weariness, because his father could only keep up with so much of his antics. His father's tattoo was a blossom of yellow narcissus, usually blooming along his neck. When Katsuki's mother got mad at him, they would sway and tremble with rage as well. But the needle also trailed anxious swings across his mother's arm when she was nervous and his father's flowers would bloom wide when he was happy.

It was hard to tell where your soulmate ended and you began, especially when you didn't know your soulmate yet.

He could still tell some things apart though.

His mark was usually a rather friendly thing, enjoying contact from others and always swimming happily along Katsuki's skin. It was pretty playful, it liked to pretend to gnaw on Katsuki's bellybutton and even though Katsuki couldn't feel anything he still laughed because it made his mark dance with excitement.

Katsuki himself was an excitable child. He liked to gather his little group of friends around him and explore the local forest, coming back covered in mud, scratches and bruises but always with a big grin on his face, his mark dancing across his arms and legs. It was curious like him, as soon as he picked something up it would fly to his fingers and Katsuki wondered if it could feel any pressure from the cool rocks he gathered in his palms. He gathered it probably could as it always seemed excited when he got a rock of a new and different texture.

But it could be calm when Katsuki needed it to be too.

He fought with his mom a lot. His dad said it was because they were exactly the same. Small disagreements would turn into screaming matches, would turn into frustrated tears from both sides until Katsuki shut his door as loud as he could and let himself sob in frustration even if it made him seem like a crybaby which he _wasn't._

During those times his mark would swim in calming circles, wherever his eyes wandered, releasing small colorful bubbles and Katsuki liked to imagine it was talking to him. It always calmed him down.

Katsuki was the first kid in his class to get a soulmate mark and he showed it off proudly, his classmates gawking as he bragged about how cool his soulmate undoubtedly was because who else has a shark as a tattoo.

He liked being the center of attention, and he usually got what he wanted, because he was the coolest in the class and because he was a leader. The fact that he got his soulmate mark first was just more proof that he was just that more grown up and better than anyone else. Nobody had problems following that logic and kids banded behind him even more than before. it was like his soulmate mark was some sort of sign that preordained him as the best and that was all Katsuki ever wanted to be.

Even his teachers cooed over him, complimenting how pretty and detailed the tattoo was, which, for some reason, seemed to be very important to adults. Maybe the more detailed the tattoo was, the cooler your soulmate was. That made sense, since Katsuki was the coolest, so of course, his soulmate had to be the coolest too. Katsuki took confidence in the way his mark looked, taking it as a proof that his soulmate was on his level, because he really hated when people dragged him down.

He was basking in fame for a few days until the novelty wore off and Katsuki had to go back to working for being the center of attention. Kids still followed him around, but as soon as others started getting their tattoos it was like Katsuki was leveled back down with them and now he was no better even though _he_ got his tattoo _first._

The only one who stayed interested was his friend Izuku, who continued following him around asking millions of questions a second in his high pitched voice that grated on Katsuki's nerves. Katsuki wasn't really fond of Izuku. He was a scaredy-cat and cried all the time and always dragged the team down. But the worst thing was that Izuku thought himself Katsuki's equal, even though Katsuki was better than him at everything. It annoyed Katsuki to no end. How could Izuku look himself in the mirror and say he thought he was the same as Katsuki, who was the strongest and the fastest and the smartest and just better then Izuku at everything.

But it was worth putting up with, if only for that look of pure worship that Izuku gave him every time he talked. Izuku asked a lot of questions, which was annoying when the topic was anything but Katsuki. But it was fine when it was Katsuki because then he got to talk a lot about himself without someone telling him to stop bragging. Because he wasn't _bragging,_ he was _answering questions._ Just for that benefit, Izuku was worth keeping around, even if he was annoying.

-x-

Eijirou's mark sparked into existence on the crook of his neck in the middle of lunch. He himself didn't notice it at first but his mom did, excitedly pointing it out; "Eijirou, honey, look, your soulmate mark."

He almost fell out of his chair in a frantic attempt to catch a glimpse and thankfully it rolled down onto his palm so he could actually see it. It was a cartoony looking little bomb, flaring up with orange and yellow sparks, excitedly rolling around the center of his palm. He let out an excited squeal, leaning all the way across the table to show his moms.

"Look, look, it's all sparky!" he yelled as the little bomb burst into fireworks of red and pink, celebrating its own birth.

His mama smiled and ruffled his hair; "Looks like your soulmate is pretty energetic, huh?" She laughed as Eijirou clambered up into her lap to cuddle and admire his new mark.

He missed the worried look his mothers shared over his head.

His soulmate mark was indeed rather energetic. It never sat in place, always rolling up Eijirou's arms and across his shoulder into his other palm and back again. It always sparked in red and yellow and orange and sometimes it shot out entire fireworks of different colors and Eijirou liked to think that those happened when his soulmate was feeling especially happy. They were especially happy very often.

It was hard to know for sure though, because bombs were not the most expressive marks. He complained about this to his mama, who laughed and showed him a sea crusted anchor whose chain wrapped around her calf.

"Try guessing what your mom's feeling out of this." She said and pinched his cheek; "Don't worry, when you meet them you'll know." She promised.

He was far from first to get his soulmate tattoo and all the excitement got swept up by his friend Mina who one day came to kindergarten with not one but two soulmate marks riding up her shoulders. He still showed off his mark proudly as soon as he could.

He was met with rather.

Mixed results.

At first everyone was excited to see his little bomb spark and fire in millions of colors and Mina ruffled his hair and hugged him tight, almost lifting him off the floor in all of the excitement; "I told you you'll get it quick!"

But then he showed it to his teacher and the woman startled, blinking at Eijirou as if she just saw a ghost. She worked up a faint smile quickLY enough and ruffled his hair to congratulate him, but an uneasy feeling still settled over Eijirou's gut.

Just why did she look at him that way?

Later that day, he heard her discuss his tattoo with another teacher, shaking her head worriedly.

"Eijirou-kun is such a nice boy, I really don't know what to think." She whispered confidentially, her lips tightening as soon as she saw Eijirou peaking from around the corner.

She smiled hesitantly at him and shooed him off to play with others. Eijirou ran back to the yard where most of the kids were gathered, immediately crowding around him because spying on the teachers always resulted in fun stories. Eijirou plopped down on one of the benches and expressed his confusion about their teacher's words.

Nobody quite knew what to make of that, the teachers never said anything about anyone else's tattoos and there were all kinds of tattoos, from puppies to monster trucks. They all squinted at Eijirou's bomb in deep thought, trying to decide what was so different about it.

"Oh, my dad knows about this." Finally, someone piped up and all the heads turned for the answer.

The kid who spoke up, Neito, was one of the more popular kids in class, having a way to rally the other kids behind him with just words and his confident behavior. Eijirou didn't like him much. Neito was one of those people his mama rolled her eyes at and called obnoxious but sufferable. Eijirou wasn't quite old enough to completely understand what she meant but he knew Neito could get quite annoying with all of his showing off.

But still, Neito's father was a cop. A real one, with a badge and everything and sometimes he would come to pick him up in a real police car and that really gave Neito all the authority he needed on these kinds of things. So even if Eijirou wasn't particularly fond of Neito he still looked up with all the other kids, sitting at the edge of his seat for the answer that eluded him.

"It's because your mark is a bomb right? Bombs are bad, they hurt people. My dad says that people with marks like that are bound to be bad." Neito nodded importantly, a confident smile on his lips as a seal of authority.

Everyone turned back to Eijirou as he felt his heart sink into his stomach. It was kind of like a nightmare. One where you are suddenly pushed on a stage in front of dozens of judgmental eyes and you know that they want something from you but you don't know what. And all he could do is stare back in silence trying to swallow his tears.

His mark still sparked red on his palm.

His mama came to pick him up and noticed his sullen mood immediately. It's not like it was hard, his shoulders hunched and his mouth was set in a firm pout, Eijirou was a posterchild of the _I'm in need of comfort_ look.

"Eijirou, sweetie, what is it?" She asked while they were walking back home, hand in hand.

He sniffed and she squeezed his hand tight in comfort, her eyes filled with worry when he looked up at her.

"Mama, am I gonna be bad?"

She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair; "Gosh, I told her we should have talked to you about this before you got to school."

She stopped their walk and knelt in front of him, cupping his face in her hands and rubbing a stray tear off his cheek. Her smile was soft and comforting but worry pulled at the edge of her lips either way, making something ache in Eijirou's heart.

"This is about your mark, right?"

He sniffed and nodded and she sighed again.

"Look here sweetie, marks are confusing things. They could mean anything and nothing at all. You are a nice and a good person so I'm sure your soulmate is too, otherwise, they wouldn't have been chosen to stand by you. You really, really can't know until you meet them, so it's silly to judge them just over the mark, do you get it?"

Eijirou spun it in his head a bit. It did make sense, a lot of the kids in his class had silly marks that didn't look like they had much meaning at all. Maybe his soulmate mark is a bomb for some entirely silly reason, like his soulmates favorite game or something. He didn't like the way his friends looked at him when they got an explanation to his mark, but that was just one explanation and his mother just presented him with an other, better one. He was sure that if he explained his mark to them like his mama did to him, they would understand and stop looking at him like _that._

He smiled brightly at his mama and nodded; "I get it!"

She laughed and picked him up, kissing his cheek; "There's that smile, don't you worry sweetie, I'm sure your soulmate is as nice as can be."

-x-

"Deeeeekuuuu." Katsuki drawled out the word with a grin, satisfied with how he managed to get his mother's tone of voice down completely; "You still don't have a quirk, right?"

Katsuki and his little gang have taken possession of the jungle gym in their playground, Katsuki sitting on top bars and dangling his legs above everyone else's heads, his soulmate mark lazily swimming around his leg and enjoying the sun. Deku was banished to the lowest bars and was scraping dirt around with his shoe when Katsuki called out to him.

Deku wasn't part of their group. Not anymore really. He just tagged along because he didn't have any other friends to play with. It was nice at first, because of all the flattering and opened admiration, but it got old fast and Katsuki honestly just wanted him to leave and mind his own business. But no matter what Katsuki did or said, Deku just couldn't seem to get the picture. The worst part was that Deku's reputation dragged Katsuki's down because Deku was the only one in class left without a quirk or a soulmate tattoo. Associating with him immediately meant you were just as much of a loser as he was and Katsuki couldn't stand for that.

Deku frowned at the ground, refusing to meet Katsuki's eyes; "Not yet…"

"And you never will right? Isn't that what teachers said, it's called being quirkless?" Katsuki grinned, leaning as far as he could on his perch to tower more over Deku, his shadow completely enveloping the boy's small, hunched form; "It's really lame, Deku, everyone knows you're useless without a quirk."

Katsuki's own quirk came in just a little bit after his soulmate mark showed up, plunging him into the center of attention again. It was an amazing quirk, flashy and strong just like Katsuki and he never missed a chance to show off the small explosions he could make that danced around his fingers as everyone stared in wonder, as his teachers praised him and cooed at him again.

Izuku however didn't get his quirk, not even when everyone else already had theirs.

Quirkless, teachers whispered.

Useless, Katsuki called it.

 _Deku._

He couldn't see Deku's face from where he was sitting but he heard a sniff and he grinned at the rest of his friends who all giggled in reply.

"It's getting kind of late, mom will worry." Deku mumbled, pushing himself of the jungle gym and taking a few steps towards the gate to the park before Katsuki decided he couldn't let him get away that easily.

"Oi, oi, Deku." He jumped off the jungle gym's top, taking a minute to soak up his friends impressed whistles at his perfect landing, before he caught up to Deku; "Come on, I was just kidding, can't you take a joke?" he laughed, leaning to Deku's side trying to see his face.

Deku turned towards him, looking like Katsuki just kicked his puppy, his lips trembling and his eyes watery. Katsuki had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Deku stuttered out;

"I don't...I don't think that's very funny." He said, the end of his sentence almost lost in a mumble, but Katsuki was way too close to miss it.

"Ah, I see, is that so?" he hummed; "You know what Deku?"

"What?"

"Nobody likes crybabies, that's probably why you don't have a soulmate either."

Deku really did run out of the park after that.

As soon as Katsuki got back home that day, he spotted his mother waiting for him in the living room.

It was going to be one of those days.

He tried to creep up to stairs to his room but before he knew it, his mother was behind him, just radiating anger.

"Oh no you don't, fucker." She growled as she picked him up like he was some goddamn toddler or something.

"MOOOOM, LET GO!" he whined but she paid him no attention and instead manhandled him onto their couch.

Great, time for another _talk_.

"Midoriya-san gave me a call today, you know. She told me Izuku-kun came home crying today." She said, never being one to beat around the bush; "Any idea why that is, hmmm?"

"I don't know, he cries all the time. He probably just fell." Katsuki hissed out, crossing his arms to look as imposing as a four-year-old could when he glared back at his mother.

They stared at each other in silence for a stretched out minute. Katsuki knew his mother knew he was lying and she knew that he knew that she knew he was lying and they were both debating is this really an issue they are willing to fight over.

"Look here, you delinquent." She said, pinching his cheeks in the way she damn well knew he hated; "Izuku-kun is going through a rough time, so be nice, okay?"

"I don't want to, he's annoying and whiney!"

"Goddamit Katsuki, at least try to act like a nice person, okay? I don't want his mom calling me every time he sniffles." His mother sighed, pulling at her own hair as she looked at him; "I have enough trouble without having to deal with someone else's kid, you know?"

He was trouble, he knew, but it still stung when she said it, so he looked away from her and grumbled; "Yeah, fine, I'll settle it with him, can I go now?"

She grinned bright and proud and ruffled his hair to his utter annoyance; "Yeah, get out of here you little prick."

Back when Katsuki got his quirk, everyone excitedly wondered what such an amazing quirk could be used for. Most quirks didn't have appliance in everyday life, but it seemed like such a shame to let such a strong quirk go to waste. Katsuki choose to use his explosions to scare the living shit out of Deku the very next time he saw him. He let him know good and well that he doesn't like tattlers and left only when he was sure that Deku won't snitch to his mom again. Katsuki's mom didn't bring Deku up anymore so Katsuki was left satisfied with the results.

His soulmate mark was startled by his quirk, dashing off of his palms every time the explosions started and Katsuki couldn't really blame it, because if where he lived suddenly started exploding, he would be frightened too. But even while his mark avoided his palms, it still seemd excited for Katsuki, still seemed to love his quirk. It swam excitedly around his wrists whenever he used it, it's mouth wide in what Katsuki took as amazement. He liked to think that whoever his soulmate is, they would like his quirk too.

He wanted to be a hero until he was old enough for his mom to explain to him that that is not an actual career choice and that vigilantes like All Might from TV don't go to any kind of hero college or earn any money from it. He still thought it was a good idea, but his mom thought doing something practical was better. His father compromises by telling him he can have a normal day job and work as a vigilante at night. Katsuki frankly thinks that is a whole lot of work to do in one day.

He stared at his tattoo deep into the night. During night it settled sleepily into his palm and if he turned on his night light he could see it clearly, but he's really too old to sleep with a night light so he settled for observing the smudged shape slightly darker than his skin is.

"I still think it would be cool to be a hero." He confessed to it.

He didn't know if his mark could actually hear him at all, but that really wasn't the part that matters.

-x-

"Don't pay any attention to them, Ei-chan, they are just idiots." Mina said as she slammed her cup against their table and then gave their teacher the sweetest smile when she scolded her for her language.

Eijirou tried to explain again and again to his classmates about how his soulmate mark didn't mean anything bad, that it wasn't dangerous just like Eijirou's soulmate wasn't dangerous and Eijirou himself wasn't dangerous. He could explain all he wanted, everyone saw how the teachers reacted to him and just behaved the same way. The teachers themselves tried their best to treat Eijirou normally but it was obvious they didn't want to get involved in what was happening between him and the other kids. Eijirou couldn't be sure but he thought they might have preferred that the other kids ignored him. After all, it was better for them, especially if Eijirou really was dangerous.

The only one who was on his side was Mina, who decided she was Eijirou's personal bodyguard from now on. Mina was energetic and friendly and sometimes a little exhausting but Eijirou was so glad he at least still had her. She waited for him in front of their kindergarten and grabbed his hand and they would walk in together and nobody dared to tease Eijirou when Mina was there, because Mina was one of those kids that was ready for a fight at any time.

Eijirou didn't know what he would do without her.

"I don't want them to think I would hurt anyone." He told her and she shook her head energetically.

"If they think that they are really dumb. You wouldn't hurt a fly!" she declared loudly and Eijirou had a sneaking suspicious he was going to get babied by her quite a lot from now on.

The rumor spreads fast between classes. Kids turning heads and whispering behind his back and their parents looking at him from above, clutching their children closer because who knows what kind of situation Eijirou was coming from and who knows what kind of situation he was going into. Everyone was either avoiding him or looking very uncomfortable in his presence.

Their stares where a rock in Eijirou's throat. He didn't do anything bad, the little bomb on his shoulder didn't mean that he was going to grow up mean. But he was still ostracized, still looked at like he was a criminal. Mina was nice, but her little battery and washi tape were tame and cute and she couldn't really understand what Eijirou was going through.

He wondered if his soulmate was going through a similar thing right now.

His mothers tried to make their case to the teachers but nothing could be done as Eijirou wasn't _actually_ bullied, just ignored a bit and that will surely pass once the news blows over. That was all they've been told and then they were sent back home, Eijirou biting his lip bloody with nerves.

The dinner was a quiet affair, because nobody really knew what to do with the situation. His mama made pancakes for dinner even though they were technically breakfast food because they were Eijirou's favorite but they felt heavy in Eijirou's stomach all the same.

"It'll be alright, honey, I'm sure it'll blow over soon." His mama smiled at him but he could see in her eyes that even she wasn't 100% sure.

Still he smiled back and nodded.

Since his mama cooked, his mom was washing the dishes, Eijirou at her side dutifully fulfilling his part in the process by drying the kitchenware and putting it away. They did their work in silence for a while, before his mom cleared her throat.

"Eijirou, sweetie, about your soulmate."

"Yeah, I know, they're probably not mean or anything." He muttered but his mom shook her head.

"Well yeah, but that's not what I was going for. Sweetie, look, you know my mark right?" She said, pulling up the sleeve of her shirt.

Eijirou nodded, wondering where this was going as he looked at his mom's mark. It was a round stone that skipped along his mom's forearm, leaving small circle of water on her skin along its way. It was a rather simple tattoo, but Eijirou loved it all the same, and liked to curl up in his mom's arms, watching the skipping stone make its circles around her skin until it lulled him to sleep.

His mom crouched down to be on his eye level, so they could both look at her soulmate mark.

"I don't think we ever told you, but my soulmate mark is not your mamas." She said, smiling at him gently when he looked at her in disbelief.

"It's not? But I saw mama's glow when she touches you?"

"Well yeah, she has my soulmate tattoo, but I don't have hers. So her glows when I touch her but not the other way around."

"Oooooh." Now that he thought about it, he really couldn't remember ever seeing his mom's tattoo glow; "Did you never meet your soulmate then?"

"Oh, no, I did." His mom grinned, sitting on the floor and scoping Eijirou up in her lap so they could talk comfortably; "Your uncle Ken is my soulmate!"

"What really?" Eijirou gaped at her.

His uncle wasn't really his uncle but his mom's best friend. He was a very cool guy who gave THE best presents and Eijirou looked up to him a lot, but he never knew about this.

"That's right, sweetie. Soulmates are weird things, most of the time its someone you'll fall in love in, but there are a lot of cases when your soulmate is actually just your best friend. Falling in love is a little harder then, because you got to look for it all on your own, but I think I made a good choice." His mother chuckled and winked at him; "Your mama and I may not be complete soulmates but we love each other very much, so much we chose to be together despite fate and all. And we love you just as much."

"So if you find your soulmate, and if you don't like them, it doesn't mean you are stuck with them sweetie. This world is so full of wonderful people and you'll make so many friends, I can promise that to you. If you don't like your soulmate you don't have to stay with them. You can find other people you like. You can decide on your own soulmates, because fate is a silly thing and often gets things wrong."

Eijirou nodded, giving her mom a bright smile as she pinched his cheek; "There's that smile, come on now sweetie, we gotta finish these dishes off before your mama gets all up in our business."

Eijirou got his quirk that very same night, getting out of bed for some water. He rubbed his eyes to see better and suddenly his hand was heavier and sharper and he could feel blood sliding down his cheek before properly feeling the pain and promptly bursting to tears. His mothers staggered out of their bedroom in raw panic and his mama scooped him up and shushed him as she inspected the cut and his mom ran to the bathroom for the first aid kit.

"Shhhh, Eijirou, it's okay, it's just a little cut, you're fine, shh." His mama cooed as she rocked him gently; "There, there you're fine. How did you cut yourself?" She asked before finally noticing his arm; "Holy sh-darn, Akai, come look at this!" his mama yelled and his mom barreled out of the bathroom, clutching the first aid kit.

"What, what is it, is he okay? Oh damn, Eijirou, your quirk!"

His mom was grinning as she ran to them and kissed his forehead, but Eijirou couldn't feel happy about his quirk finally coming in because his arm was still too heavy and his forehead was still bleeding and he felt his breath hitch into a sob as he clutched his mama for dear life which thankfully redirected his mothers attentions back where it matters.

His mama got back to shushing him and his mom wiped away the blood off his forehead, even as Eijirou recoiled from the sting of alcohol.

At this point Eijirou has calmed down from initial fright enough to examine the situation maturely like a big boy. His arm was harder then it usually is, but it wasn't the rock he mistook it for when he cut his forehead. It was just slightly stiffer than usual, going sharp at the joints of his fingers with which he cut himself with. His soulmate mark was still nestled on his palm, where it rolled over in its sleep from its position on Eijirou's heart. It didn't seem bothered at all that it was no longer nesting in something soft and comfortable. There were small yellow stars bursting from it in a steady rhythm just like they always do when his soulmate is asleep. It helped calm his heart rate a bit, and surprisingly enough as he calmed down, his skin got softer too, until it was back to normal and his mom ruffled his hair proudly.

"Look at you, what a little champion, you already got it down." She praised him as she dug out band aids from the first aid kit.

They were vigilante themed band aids, the ones that Eijirou picked out himself last time they went to the store. There are a few vigilantes popular enough to get official merchandise but one of Eijirou's favorites, Crimson Riot, was still there and was the one he picked for his mom to plaster over his wound.

"It might scar." His mama warned as she peppered small kisses over his wound to make it heal extra fast.

"It's okay, it'll just make you look badass- ""Akai!" "I mean cool!" His mom grinned at him, rubbing her head sheepishly and Eijirou couldn't help but grin back.

"Yeah it'll be super cool!"

"God, what will I do with the two of you."

"What happened to your head, Ei-chan?" Mina skipped over to him as soon as he entered the classroom, getting all up in his face to observe his Crimson Riot band aid better.

"I got my quirk!" he said, extending his hand and concentrating really hard. His skin hardened for a few seconds before going back to normal and he grinned up at Mina who was already beaming back.

"That's so cool, Ei-chan! I can't wait till I get my quirk so we can play vigilantes for real!"

Eijirou was thrilled beyond words as the other kids flocked around him to check out his quirk. It wasn't the flashiest one, so most of them got one look and left, but they were still excitedly chattering around him, bragging about their own quirks, or wondering what they could be. Eijirou felt like part of the class again, and as much as he liked his soulmate mark, he was glad that the appearance of his quirk overshadowed it and made everyone forget their avoidance. It's going to be alright, he realized. The other kids forgot about it just like the teachers told him they would and now everything is going to be alright.

"Hardening, huh, is it to protect you when your soulmate hits you?"

Everyone went silent again, turning towards the source of the voice. Neito grinned at them from the table where he was drawing, simply preening at all the attention.

"Because my dad says that sometimes people who are soulmates with criminals have those kinds of quirks. You know, to protect themselves. He should know, he's a cop." He explained, puffing up even more.

Every single head in the classroom turned back to Eijirou, watching him with pity, guilt and fear.

His mark sparked restlessly against his collar bone.


End file.
